^DIDiBliSS 


iroiEM  mm1  mm  ^: 


OF   THE 


CALDWELL  INSTITUTE, 

February  6th,  1850, 

ON   OCCASION   OF  THEIR 


BY  REV.  S.  A.  STANFIELD. 


PUBLISHED    BY    ORDER    OF    THE     SOCIETY. 


I 


HILLSBOROUGH: 
PRINTED  BY  DENNIS  HEARTT, 

1850. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/addressdelivered1850stan 


©®miEIE®lP(D)HID3EH©ffi< 


Adelphian  Hall,  February  9th,  1850. 
Dkar  Sir  : 

At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Adelphian  Society,  held  in  their  Hall,  we 
were  instructed  to  return  you  the  thanks  of  that  body  for  the  very  able  and 
instructive  address  delivered  before  them  on  their  fourteenth  anniversary ; 
and  request  a  copy  of  the  same  for  publication.  Permit  us,  sir,  personally 
to  add  our  own  solicitations  that  you  will  comply  with  the  request  of  the  So- 
ciety. 

With  very  high  respect, 

JUNIUS  I.  SCALES,        "J 
HENRY  PRESTON,         I  Committee. 
JAMES  RICHARDSON,  J 
Eev.  S.  A.  Staxfibld. 


Castleton,  Person,  N.  C,  March  4th,  1850. 
Gbhtlbmbx t 

Your  polite  note  of  the  9th  of  February,  was  only  received  two  days  ago. 
The  address  was  written  with  no  expectation  that  it  would  be  published, 
and  in  great  haste,  but  such  as  it  is,  it  belongs  to  the  Society,  and  I  send  it, 
with  the  simple  expression  of  the  opinion  that  the  most  suitable  disposition 
you  can  make  of  it,  is  to  deposit  it  among  your  archives. 
With  high  regard, 

a  A.  STANFIELD« 
Messrs.  J.  L  Scales,      1 

H.  Prestox,      Y  Committee, 
J.  Richarmox.  J 


Mr.  President,  and  Fellow  Members  of  the  Adelphian  Society; 

Should  one  of  our  fellow  citizens,  whom  the  marvel- 
lous accounts  which  we  have  heard  ot  the  newly  discovered 
El  Dorado  have  tempted  to  leave  their  homes  and  friends 
and  rush  forward  in  pursuit  of  some  golden  vision — should 
such  an  one  return  to  his  family,  his  arrival  would  doubtless 
occasion  no  little  excitement  in  the  midst  of  the  community 
from  which  he  had  gone  out.  Numerous  would  be  the  ques- 
tions which  would  be  asked  him.  Every  one  whom  he  met 
would  be  anxious  to  know  what  he  had  seen  by  the  way, 
what  he  had  found  in  the  land  of  gold,  and  what  he  had  brought 
back  with  him  home.  Especially  would  this  be  the  case  with 
those  who  contemplated  an  excursion  of  the  same  sort.  Ea- 
gerly would  they  seek  and  carefully  would  they  treasure, 
such  information  concerning  the  place,  the  population,  the 
manners,  customs  and  modes  of  life,  and  every  thing  con- 
nected with  the  subject,  as  might  aid  them  in  the  prosecution 
of  their  future  plans.  The  "  El  Dorado"  of  life  with  you, 
young  gentlemen,  is  the  period  when  you  shall  enter  upon  its 
active  duties.  To  that  time  do  you  look  forward  with  eager, 
perhaps  with  restless  anxiety.  Every  thing  connected  with 
it  is  interesting  to  you,  and  every  hint  and  suggestion  con- 
cerning it  will  be  kindly  received  and  properly  appreciated. 
"When  those  who  have  arrived  a  little  before  you  at  what  was 
their  land  of  promise,  come  back  to  you,  to  unite  with  you  in 
celebrations  of  this  sort— especially  those  upon  whom  you 
have  conferred  the  honor  of  inviting  to  address  you,  you 
might  reasonably  expect  them  to  entertain  you  with  some  ac- 
count of  what  they  have  seen  and  heard  in  this  land  in  which 


you  feel  so  deeply  interested.  I  shall,  however,  rather  aim, 
on  this  occasion,  to  throw  out  some  hints  which  shall  guide 
you  on  your  journey,  than  to  speak  of  any  thing  connected 
with  the  land  to  which  you  are  hastening.  I  propose  to  make 
some  remarks  to  you  on  Reading.  While  I  shall  make  no 
distinct  divisions  of  the  subject,  what  will  be  said  will  have 
reference  to  the  two  questions — how  we  should  read,  and 
ivhat  we  should  read. 

I  have  selected  this  subject,  because  I  am  convinced  that 
it  is  one  on  which  students  need  suggestions.  It  is  one  on 
which  experience  and  observation  have  taught  me  some 
things  which  I  trust  may  be  useful  to  others. 

There  is  one  remark,  however,  which  it  is  proper  to  make 
before  we  proceed  to  the  subject  in  hand.  It  is,  that  while 
you  are  members  of  this  institution,  or  of  any  other,  you 
should  never  suffer  reading  to  interfere  with  diligent  and 
proper  attention  to  your  text  books.  The  great  danger  to 
which,  as  students,  you  are  exposed,  is  that  you  will  be  tempt- 
ed to  neglect  your  text  books.  We  live  in  an  age  of  excite- 
ment, in  a  time  of  great  stir  and  commotion  among  the  na- 
tions of  the  earth.  In  our  own  land  we  see  on  every  hand 
the  exhibitions  of  a  spirit  of  activity  ;  with  us,  all  is  progress 
and  growth.  Some  of  us  have  been  astonished  in  our  youn- 
ger days  in  reading  the  story  of  Aladdin  with  his  wonder- 
ful Lamp,  at  the  account  of  a  palace  built  in  a  single  night; 
but  we  have  lived  to  see  what  surpasses  the  strangeness  of 
fiction — cities  built  in  a  day,  and  nations  born  in  a  year. 
The  excitement  and  activity  which  are  every  where  now  to 
be  seen,  operate  badly  on  the  cause  of  learning  and  solid  at- 
tainments. They  create  an  impatience  of  the  stillness  of  a 
student's  life.  Unfortunately,  while  men  have  been  making 
the  most  wonderful  discoveries  in  every  thing  else,  they  have 
yet  discovered  no  easy  road  to  learning.  Wrhile  the  steam 
engine  drives  through  the  length  of  the  land,  and  while  light- 
ing conveys  for  us  our  messages,  the  votary  of  learning  must 
still  toil  to  climb  the  steep,  and  must  trim  the  midnight 
lamp.  No  method  has  yet  been  found  of  expanding  the 
mind,  of  strengthening  its  powers,  or  of  filling  it  with  useful 
knowledge  except  the  slow  process  of  hard  stndy.     The  spi- 


rit  of  the  age,  however,  is  against  this.  It  is  fashionable  in 
many  quarters  to  declaim  against  the  system  of  education 
which  requires  the  most  of  it,  and  the  young  experience  a 
double  tendency  to  tire  and  complain  of  what  appears  to  them 
a  slow  and  useless  drudgery.  A  young  man  whose  imagina- 
tion is  constantly  going  on  to  the  active  scenes  of  manhood, 
but  who  calls  to  mind  the  fact  that  before  he  shall  enter  up- 
on the  promised  land  he  must  devote  years  to  the  study  of 
ancient  languages  and  the  mathematics,  is  apt  to  grow  im- 
patient, and  ask  to  what  purpose  is  all  this  waste.  "  Cui 
bono?  I  can't  see  what  good  it  will  do,"  has  caused  many  a 
young  man  to  stop  in  the  midst  of  a  course  of  mental  disci- 
pline and  development,  which  if  prosecuted,  would  have 
made  him  a  fit  man  for  any  station  in  life.  The  object  for 
which  you  are  sent  here  is,  that  you  may  be  qualified  for  the 
discharge  of  the  duties  which  shall  devolve  on  you  in  life. 
The  plan  of  instruction  and  the  course  of  studies  is  that 
which  the  experience  of  the  world,  and  the  embodied  judg- 
ment of  the  wisest  and  best,  has  determined  to  be  the  most 
suited  for  the  purpose  in  view.  The  sole  design  in  the  erec- 
tion of  this  school  was  the  good  of  those  who  should  here  be 
taught,  and  through  them  the  good  of  the  world.  This  In- 
stitution was  founded  by  wise  and  good  men,  with  many 
prayers  and  much  sacrifice,  that  it  might  be  a  blessing  to 
those  who  from  time  to  time  should  assemble  here — a  blessing 
to  the  church,  and  a  blessing  to  the  world.  This,  then, 
should  constitute  a  sufficient  reason  why  you  should  make 
your  first  and  chief  end  as  members  of  the  Institution,  to  at- 
tend to  the  duties  assigned  you  by  your  professors. 

There  is  one  error  into  which  we  are  apt  to  fall,  and  on 
which  much  of  the  doubt  about  the  propriety  of  classical  and 
mathematical  studies  is  founded.  This  mistake  is  in  refe- 
rence to  the  prime  end  to  be  had  in  view  in  the  education  of 
the  young.  Perhaps  a  majority  of  the  people  in  the  world, 
and  a  large  portion  of  intelligent  men,  if  asked  why  the  young 
are  sent  to  school,  would  answer,  for  the  acquisition  of  know- 
ledge. And  hence  it  appears  so  strange,  that  so  much  time 
should  be  spent  in  acquiring  knowledge  which  is  so  little  us- 
ed.    The  acquisition  of  knowledge  is  not  the  end  for  which 


you  are  sent  here.  Mental  discipline  is  the  first  and  chief 
end  of  education.  It  is  not  knowledge  we  need,  so  much  as 
mental  power.  Self-culture,  mental  development,  intellectu- 
al stability  and  reliability,  is  what  is  necessary  to  make  a 
man.  The  mind  should  not  be  a  repository,  but  a  forge  ;  not 
a  pool,  but  a  spring  ;  not  a  reservoir,  but  a  fountain.  The 
object  in  training  men  is  to  fit  them  to  do  those  things  which 
it  requires  mind  to  do.  A  man  that  has  power  to  think,  to 
judge,  to  weigh,  to  fabricate,  to  balance  and  determine,  is 
the  educated  man  ;  and  he  who  cannot  do  these  things,  though 
he  have  all  knowledge,  is  a, fool.  To  make  a  ploughman  or 
a  woodman,  we  ask  first  a  full  development  of  the  physical 
powers.  To  make  a  carpenter,  we  desire  first  bodily  strength, 
and  then  skill  in  the  use  of  tools,  afterwards  acquaintance 
with  the  rules  of  building.  Suppose  you  were  to  put  a  boy 
to  be  an  apprentice  at  any  trade,  do  you  not  see  that  skill 
would  be  required  before  knowledge?  So  when  we  would 
train  the  minds  of  men  for  work,  our  first  object  is  to  secure 
mental  discipline,  and  then  they  are  prepared  to  acquire  and 
use  knowledge.  Bearing  these  things  in  mind,  we  see  much 
reason  in  the  course  which  has  been  pursued  in  giving  so 
great  prominence  to  classical  and  mathematical  studies. 
They  are,  to  an  eminent  degree,  disciplinary.  The  laborious 
pursuit  of  them  secures  an  amount  of  intellectual  culture 
and  mental  development,  which  no  other  plan  of  study  can 
secure.  They  call  into  practice,  and  give  constant  exercise 
to  a  greater  number  of  the  mental  powers  ;  they  prevent  ma- 
ny bad  mental  habits  into  which,  under  almost  any  other 
system,  we  are  liable  to  fall. 

If  men  in  the  pursuits  of  life  owe  their  success  to  the  pos- 
session, or  their  failure  to  the  want  of  any  one  quality  more 
than  another,  that  quality  is  the  command  of  the  attention  ; 
the  power  of  abstraction ;  ability  to  fix  the  mind  intensely 
on  one  subject  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others.  On  the  culti- 
vation of  this  habit,  your  success  in  life  will  in  a  great  mea- 
sure depend.  Now  there  is  nothing  so  well  calculated  to 
produce  and  fix  this  habit,  as  the  course  of  study  which  you 
are  daily  required  to  pursue.  To  acquire  this  alone  would 
be  worth  whole  years  of  diligent  and  laborious  study,  if  you 


9 

did  not  gain  a  single  idea,  or  add  to  your  store  of  knowledge 
a  single  fact.  Patient  application  is  also  hardly  less  neces- 
sary to  secure  success.  The  restlessness  of  the  human  mind, 
the  reluctance  with  which  it  confines  itself  for  a  Ions:  time 
to  any  one  subject,  its  proneness  to  reverie  and  castle  build- 
ing, the  impatience  of  the  imagination,  are  among  the  great- 
est obstacles  to  success  in  all  pursuits  requiring  severe  and 
protracted  mental  application.  Now  to  overcome  these  it 
is  necessary  not  only  that  we  obtain  control  of  the  attention, 
but  that  we  be  able  to  endure  patiently  mental  labor.  A  ha- 
bit of  patient  application  is  indispensable,  and  this  is  secur- 
ed by  the  plan  of  study  to  which  you  are  here  required  dai- 
ly to  attend.  The  drudgery  of  translation,  of  using  diction- 
ary and  grammar,  of  proceeding  inch  by  inch  and  step  by 
Step,  is  admirably  suited  to  form  and  fix  this  habit.  Compa- 
rison, judgment  and  memory  are  likewise  important  men- 
tal processes,  which  will  be  greatly  developed  and  exercis- 
ed by  attention  to  your  classical  studies.  But  on  these  I  can- 
not dwell.  I  sincerely  believe,  if  it  were  possible  for  a 
young  man  to  devote  years  to  the  patient,  accurate,  and  dil- 
igent study  of  the  languages  and  mathematics,  and  at  the  end 
should  have  every  idea  blotted  out  which  he  had  acquired, 
merely  leaving  to  himi;he  benefit  of  his  mental  discipline,  this 
alone  would  compensate  him  for  his  time,  labor  and  expense. 
You  may  take  two  men  of  equal  native  mental  strength, — 
one  of  whom  has  gone  through  this  course  of  discipline  and 
has  obtained  the  consequent  advantages,  but  has  entirely  neg- 
lected all  general  reading,  history,  philosophy  and  litera- 
ture ;  and  another  who  has  devoted  his  time  to  what  is  term- 
ed the  acquisition  of  useful  information ;  and  set  them  to  stu- 
dying a  profession,  and  in  a  little  time  the  man  of  disciplin- 
ed mind  will  leave  the  other  far  in  the  distance. 

Young  men  often  take  up  a  notion  that  it  is  better  to  neg- 
lect their  studies  and  read,  and  contend  that  they  gain  by  it 
in  the  end.  In  this,  however,  they  are  mistaken.  For,  from 
the  want  of  the  mental  discipline  which  they  are  neglecting, 
they  do  not  know  how  to  read.  They  cram  their  minds  with 
a  quantity  of  unarranged  and  undigested  knowledge,  and 
ideas  by  which  they  are  little  benefitted,  and  find  in  the  end 


10 

that  they  have  almost  entirely  thrown  their  time  away.  Of 
two  young  men,  one  of  whom  is  a  diligent  student,  and  yet 
secures  such  a  portion  of  his  time  as  he  can  spare  from  his 
studies  to  judicious  reading  ;  and  the  other  spends  his  whole 
time  in  reading  ;  the  difference  in  the  amount  of  information 
gained  at  the  end  of  a  year  would  be  much  less  than  you  would 
be  ready  at  first  to  imagine.  I  might  add  many  other  reasons 
to  impress  upon  your  minds  the  prime  importance  of  dili- 
gent and  unremitting  devotion  to  your  text  books,  but  I  have 
already  been  much  diverted  from  my  original  purpose,  with 
which  I  must  now  proceed. 

Next  in  importance  to  mental  discipline,  is  the  acquisition 
of  knowledge.  Much  of  this  is  gained  in  the  regular  course 
of  study  prescribed  in  our  schools.  Your  mathematical  stu- 
dies will  conduct  you  into  boundless  regions  of  thought ;  and 
incidental  to  your  classical  studies  is  much  knowledge  of 
history,  biography,  mythology,  philosophy  of  human  lan- 
guage, and  an  abundance  of  thoughts  and  arguments  on  an 
endless  variety  of  subjects.  To  all  these  it  is  important  to 
attend.  Besides,  in  the  various  departments  of  history,  phi- 
losophy, poetry  and  polite  literature,  not  to  speak  of  the  read- 
ing belonging  particularly  to  the  several  learned  professions, 
there  are  exhautless  sources  of  knowledge. 

One  thing  that  is  calculated  to  puzzle  and  perplex  the 
mind  of  a  young  man  about  to  commence  a  course  of  reading, 
is  the  apparently  infinite  number  of  books.  To  one  who  goes 
into  a  large  library  and  casts  his  eye  around  and  reads  the 
titles  and  the  title  pages,  and  then  thinks  how  little  he  has 
read,  how  little  he  can  read,  and  how  little  he  knows  of  what 
he  has  read,  the  mental  impression  which  arises  is  a  feeling 
of  pain.  When,  too,  he  looks  at  a  newspaper  and  sees  the 
number  of  books  which  are  constantly  coming  from  the 
press,  and  thinks  of  what  is  now  happening  in  the  world,  and 
what  time  it  will  take  to  record  it  all, — he  is  forcibly  im- 
pressed with  the  fact  that  he  has  fallen  behind  the  world,  and 
will  probably  never  catch  up.  Considering,  then,  the  great 
number  of  books  that  are  in  the  world,  and  the  little  time  we 
can  spare  from  laborious  studies  and  active  duties  for  the 
purpose  of  reading,  let  us  fix  a  few  maxims  by  which  our  con- 
duct in  this  ^articular  may  be  regulated. 


11 

i.  iiet  us  not  attempt  to  read  all  the  books  in  the  world. 
There  are  two  good  reasons  for  this  maxim. 

1st.  It  is  impossible  to  read  them  all.  There  are  a  great 
many  written  in  languages  which  we  do  not  understand. 
We  can't  read  all  in  the  English  language.  If  we  suppose 
that  there  are  only  200,000  volumes,  and  we  read  one  every 
day,  Sundays  excepted,  it  would  take  six  hundred  years ;  and 
then  by  the  time  we  got  through,  there  will  be  as  many  more. 
It  is  a  clear  case,  then,  we  cannot  read  them  all. 

2d.  It  is  not  desirable  to  read  them  all.  For  if  we  had 
all  the  ideas  in  all  the  books  in  the  world  in  our  heads,  we 
would  not  have  room  for  anything  else.  A  great  many  of 
them  are  not  worth  reading.  We  could  not  remember  them 
all  if  we  could  read  them.  We  need  not  expect,  then,  to 
read  every  book  we  see  or  hear  of. 

II.  As  we  cannot  read  all,  let  us  endeavor  to  select  ju- 
diciously those  books  that  we  do  read.  Here  is  an  all-im- 
portant point.  "  Of  making  many  books  there  is  no  end." 
*<  Evil  communications  corrupt  good  manners" — not  less 
true  of  books  than  men.  Our  time  is  precious.  That  which 
is  wasted  we  cannot  recall.  Unless  we  consent  to  be  igno- 
rant in  an  enlightened  age,  we  must  read.  Many  of  us  have 
access  to  books  of  every  description;  we  must  make  a  selec- 
tion. It  cannot  be  expected  on  an  occasion  of  this  sort,  that 
I  should  pretend,  even  if  I  were  competent  to  do  so,  to  give 
any  opinion  as  to  the  relative  merit  of  the  various  works 
which  fill  our  libraries.  I  would  merely  venture  to  suggest, 
that  perhaps  the  most  improving  reading  for  young  men  is  to 
be  found  in  standard  works  of  History.  "  History  is  philo- 
sophy teaching  by  example."  Every  page  of  history  is  in- 
structive. Your  leisure  hours  cannot  be  more  suitably  em- 
ployed than  in  reading  History.  The  most  interesting  of  all 
histories  is  the  Bible.  Considered  merely  as  a  book  of  au- 
thentic history,  apart  from  its  connexion  with  our  immortal 
interests,  it  is  the  most  interesting  book  in  the  world.  The 
student  of  history  should  begin  with  the  Bible.  It  is  the 
most  ancient  of  all  histories.  In  it  we  have  an  account  of 
the  infancy  of  man,  and  without  it  as  a  key  all  other  history 
would  be  an  enigma.     Let  no  man,  then,  be  content,  so  long 


12 

as  he  is  ignorant  of  Bible  history.  The  history  of  our  own 
country  is  of  course  full  of  interest  to  us  all ;  and  that  we 
may  understand  it,  it  is  necessary  that  we  should  go  back  to 
the  mother  country,  with  whose  history  our  own  is  so  inti- 
mately blended.  Church  history  also  demands  at  the  hands 
of  every  educated  man  an  attentive  perusal ;  the  history  of 
the  Reformation  especially.  Passing  over  biography,  poe- 
try, the  English  classics,  &c,  I  remark  that  works  of  fiction 
should  not  be  permitted  to  encroach  on  your  time.  I  would 
gladly  impress  upon  you  the  fact  that  time  is  precious  ;  and 
you  have  no  time  to  throw  away  in  reading  trash.  There 
are  exceptions  to  the  rule,  but  yet  it  is  true,  that  he  who 
spends  his  time  in  reading  works  of  fiction,  is  wasting  the 
precious  moments  which  God  has  given.  Works  of  fiction 
are  read  merely  for  present  gratification  ;  hence  the  manner 
of  reading  is  so  rapid  that  we  never  retain  any  valuable  facts 
or  sentiments  which  may  be  found  in  them.  That  this  re- 
mark is  true,  any  person  will  be  convinced,  if  he  will  take 
a  pen  and  endeavor  to  write  down  some  of  the  ideas  contain- 
ed in  the  last  novel  he  has  read.  This  habit  of  rapid  and 
careless  reading  has,  too,  a  very  injurious  effect  upon  the 
mind.  Apart  from  the  doubtful  moral  effect  of  novel  read- 
ing, and  leaving  out  of  view  the  fact  that  in  works  of  fiction 
we  never  get  a  correct  view  of  men  and  things — which  are 
represented  not  as  they  are,  but  distorted  to  suit  the  pur- 
purse  or  fancy  of  the  writer,  and  often  to  pander  to  a  sick- 
ly sentimentalism  in  the  reader — and  passing  by  a  variety 
of  considerations  which  might  be  urged  against  the  practice, 
it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  it  is  a  loss  of  time.  And  you  have 
no  time  to  lose.  You  are  soon  to  be  called  to  act  a  part  in 
life.  To  act  that  part  well,  it  is  necessary  that  you  should 
be  men — men  of  mind — men  of  energy — men  of  nerve — not 
puny  dwarfs,  not  sentimental  women.  If  you  wish  to  be 
men,  do  hard  work,  eat  solid  food,  and  lose  no  time. 

III.  One  great  mistake  into  which  young  men  are  apt 
to  fall,  is  that  of  rapid  reading.  Some  are  ambitious  to  say 
they  have  read  a  great  deal ;  others  think  it  is  a  sign  of  smart- 
ness to  read  a  book  through  very  quick.  Some  books  are 
written  in  such  a  style  as  to  make  us  anxious  to  see  the  end. 


13 

A  maxim  which  we  should  lay  down  is,  that  we  will  read 
ivell  what  we  do  read.  To  read  well,  it  is  necessary  that  we 
should  in  most  cases  read  slowly.  An  English  lawyer  of 
great  distinction  said  of  himself,  that  when  he  first  commenc- 
ed the  study  of  his  profession  it  was  in  company  with  seve- 
ral others.  At  first  they  greatly  outstripped  him.  While 
he  was  reading  one  book  they  would  read  three  or  four.  In 
a  short  time  the  difference  between  them  was  clearly  per- 
ceptible. They  had  indefinite  ideas  of  a  great  many  things; 
he  had  learned  a  few  things  well.  All  the  eminence  he  at- 
tained he  ascribed  to  the  fact,  that  he  had  been  willing  to  go 
slowly,  that  he  might  learn  well.  The  late  John  Q.  Adams, 
in  writing  to  his  son,  says,  et  Young  people  sometimes  boast 
of  how  many  books  and  how  much  they  have  read;  when,  in- 
stead of  boasting  they  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  having  wasted 
so  much  time  to  so  little  profit."  One  clear  and  distinct 
idea  is  worth  a  whole  world  of  misty  ones. 

The  objection  to  rapid  reading  is,  that  the  mind  is  crowd- 
ed with  thoughts,  in  such  quick  succession,  that,  before  one 
is  appropriated  and  appreciated  it  is  displaced  by  another. 
The  mind  is  not  a  crucible  into  which  you  may  throw  every 
thing  carelessly  and  promiscuously,  with  the  expectation 
that  all  will  be  arranged  in  the  most  suitable  and  beneficial 
manner.  As  well  might  you  expect  the  body  to  be  strong  and 
vigorous,  if  you  were  constantly  throwing  into  it  soups,  and 
slops,  and  meats,  and  everything  else,  at  all  times  and  in  all 
quantities,  as  the  mind  to  improve  by  a  system  of  promiscu- 
ous and  rapid  reading.  That  what  you  read  may  benefit  you, 
you  must  understand  and  remember  it.  That  you  may  un- 
derstand, you  must  take  time  to  think.  That  you  may  re- 
member what  you  have  read,  it  must  be  made  a  part  of  your 
own  intellectual  furniture,  and  this  requires  time,  attention 
and  labor.  In  the  Patent  Office  at  Washington  City  and  the 
Institute  adjoining,  are  collected  the  greatest  variety  of  spe- 
cimens of  every  sort;  the  mechanic  arts,  the  animal,  mine- 
ral, and  vegetable  kingdoms,  have  all  contributed  their  stores. 
The  visiter  is  constantly  attracted  from  one  rare  or  beauti- 
ful thing  to  another.  Now  if  you  go  there,  and  stay  two  or 
three  hours  and  try  to  sec  everything,  and  then  come  out, 


14 

you  will  find  that  you  could  hardly  describe  a  single  thing. 
You  would  have  a  confused  idea  of  a  great  many  things,  and 
a  definite  idea  of  nothing.  If  you  were  to  visit  the  city  of 
New  York  and  take  your  stand  upon  Broadway,  you  would 
see  from  five  to  ten  thousand  persons  in  fifteen  minutes. 
Now,  you  might  exert  all  your  powers,  but  would  find  it  im- 
possible to  call  to  mind  any  of  the  numerous  countenances 
which  you  had  seen.  The  reason  is,  that  the  number  and 
rapid  succession  of  objects  has  prevented  a  clear  and  distinct 
idea  of  any.  We  may  do  our  very  best,  and  reading  will  be 
with  most  of  us  "  very  much  like  going  to  spring  in  a  sif- 
ter." But  still  the  great  reason  why  we  are  so  little  bene- 
fitted is,  the  careless  and  rapid  manner  in  which  we  read. 
The  mind  will  not  retain  what  it  has  not  made  its  own. 
Facts  and  ideas  become  our  own  when  they  are  clearly  com- 
prehended and  fixed  by  some  principle  of  mental  association, 
not  otherwise.  To  read  rapidly,  then,  defeats  the  very  pur- 
pose at  which  we  aim.  Our  time  is  lost — our  minds  wea- 
kened. While  a  student  of  this  Institution,  I  was  intimate 
with  two  young  men  who  took  a  race  through  Hume's  Histo- 
ry of  England.  One  commenced  and  read  through  the  first 
volume  in  a  week,  and  commenced  the  second.  The  other 
commenced  the  first ;  and  then  for  weeks  they  had  a  race, 
one  reading  to  catch  up,  the  other  to  keep  before.  Each 
thought  he  was  doing  very  smart  in  reading  so  fast.  I  com- 
menced about  the  same  time  to  read  Shakespeare's  works, 
and  for  four  or  five  weeks  read  a  volume  a  week.  At  the 
expiration  of  the  time,  would  have  been  as  much  at  a  loss  to 
say  what  I  Jiad  read,  as  the  stranger  would  be  to  describe 
the  men  he  met  on  Broadway.  Some  books,  from  their  ve- 
ry nature,  make  you  hurry  to  the  end.  Of  this  sort  are  most 
works  of  fiction,  and  for  this  very  reason  you  should  not  read 
them.  It  is  begetting  a  bad  habit  to  no  purpose.  So  of  the 
plays  of  Shakespeare  ;  History  of  the  Reformation  by  Dr. 
Merle  cle  Aubigne  ;  and  of  the  history  of  England  by  Ma- 
caulay.  There  is  a  fascination  and  excitement  and  an  in- 
terest which  leads  you  to  hasten  to  the  conclusion.  If  we 
suffer  ourselves  to  yield  to  this  influence,  we  should  read 
again  and  again.     The  oftener  you  read  some  books  the  bet- 


15 

Jfcter.  You  would  be  more  benefitted  by  reading  one  of  the 
plays  of  Shakespeare  a  dozen  times,  than  you  would  by  read- 
ing in  the  same  time  a  dozen  plays  ;  just  as  he  who  has  tho- 
roughly committed  the  Gospel  of  Matthew,  though  he  has 
never  read  a  single  chapter  besides,  is  better  read  in  Scrip- 
tures than  he  who  has  carelessly  read  the  whole  Bible.  Let 
your  maxim  be,  then,  in  reading,  "festina  lente;"  and  be  not 
ashamed  that  you  have  to  confess  ignorance  of  many  books, 
— but  never  say  I  have  read  it  but  do  not  remember  what  is 
in  it. 

IV.  Of  the  same  tendency,  and  arising  from  the  same 
cause,  is  the  habit  of  listless  inattentive  reading.  I  have 
heard  of  a  physician  who  had  a  pupil  who  fell  into  this  habit, 
and  for  the  want  of  interest  often  took  a  nap  in  his  chair 
with  his  book  lying  open  before  him.  His  preceptor  would 
always  turn  back  several  leaves,  and  when  he  awoke  he 
would  start  from  the  point  to  which  he  had  been  turned, 
without  perceiving  that  he  had  ever  read  it  before.  It  is 
needless  to  say  all  such  reading  is  worse  than  play. 

In  reading  you  will  find  much  use  for  books  of  reference. 
In  reading  History,  the  Atlas  should  be  your  constant  com- 
panion. To  get  a  correct  view  of  history  without  a  know- 
ledge of  Geography,  is  impossible.  Use  your  dictionary 
freely  also.  Seek  out  the  meaning,  classical,  literary  and 
historical  allusions.  Be  slow  to  pass  any  thing  which  you 
do  not  understand,  if  there  is  in  your  reach  any  book  which 
may  explain  it.  Compare  the  views  of  different  authors  up- 
on the  same  subjects.  Labor  to  fix  important  events  and 
facts  in  your  memory.  To  this  end  cultivate  habits  of  asso- 
ciation. Bring  your  knowledge  to  bear  on  what  you  read. 
Here  you  will  find  much  use  for  Greek  and  Latin.  These 
will  often  give  you  a  better  idea  of  the  meaning  of  a  word 
than  can  be  gotten  from  any  dictionary.  Converse  about 
what  you  read,  and  write  about  it.  In  this  Society  you  find 
an  excellent  opportunity  of  using  knowledge  as  it  may  be 
acquired.     But  I  must  cease. 

Young  gentlemen,  I  congratulate  you  upon  the  return 
of  the  anniversary  of  your  Society.  I  am  glad  to  be  able  to 
join  you  in  its  celebration.     The  name  "  Adelphian,"  is  all 


16 

that  now  remains  of  what  it  was  when  I  was  a  regular  mem- 
ber. The  place,  the  hall,  the  books,  the  members,  are  no 
longer  the  same.  Those  who  were  associated  with  me  here 
are  widely  scattered  in  this  world.  Some  are  gone  to  their 
final  resting  place.  But  still  I  love  the  Society  ;  I  love 
the  name  ;  I  love  the  meaning  of  the  name.  There  is  some- 
thing in  a  name.  I  love  the  memories  which  cluster  around 
that  name.  It  brings  to  mind  the  memory  of  happy  days, 
I  love  the  faces  which  it  calls  up  before  me.  The  name  is 
all  that  remains,  did  I  say  ?  You  have  the  motto  still — Vir- 
tue, Literature,  and  Science.  Gentleman,  cherish  that  name, 
pursue  that  motto.  Be  a  society  of  brothers ;  cultivate  and 
cherish  the  feeling  that  you  are  brethren.  Carry  out  the 
spirit  of  your  motto.  Put  virtue  first.  As  a  Society  be 
virtuous  ;  as  individuals  love  virtue.  Seek  not  a  cold  and 
stoical  morality ;  but  virtue,  the  twin  sister,  the  virgin 
daughter  of  pure  religion.  In  the  hearts  and  wishes  of  those 
who  built  this  institution,  religion  has  the  first  place;  sci- 
ence, and  literature  the  next.  Virtue,  true  virtue,  the  off- 
spring of  religion,  has  the  first  place  in  the  motto  of  your 
society ;  let  it  likewise  have  the  first  place  in  your  hearts. 
Wisdom  says,  I  love  them  that  love  me,  and  they  that  seek 
me  early  shall  find  me.  Her  ways  are  ways  of  pleasant- 
ness, and  all  her  paths  are  peace.  She  cometh  down  from 
above,  and  is  first  pure,  and  then  peaceable,  gentle,  easy  to 
be  entreated,  full  of  mercy  and  good  fruits,  without  partiali- 
ty and  without  hypocrisy. 


